But according to an article in Organic MD, vanilla is addicting! Vanillic acid is related to the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine, which are better known as adrenaline and noradrenaline. Too much of these can definitely be a bad thing, and can make addicting products even worse, such as tobacco products.

But does that mean you should avoid vanilla products at all costs? I certainly don't think so. Maybe too much can be a bad thing, but I think that "responsible vanilla use" could be key. Or maybe it's not harmful at all! I think the main thing to take away from this is to know that vanilla isn't harmful and won't kill you, but just be aware that it could be addicting. What do you think?

From the article in Organic MD, it's hard to tell how legitimate this conclusion is. I'm curious about the research and studies conducted that led them to believe that vanilla is addictive. However, I did some further research, and according to Gourmet Jack, there is no scientific evidence to prove the claim. However research has shown that it can be mildly addictive because it increases the adrenaline and epinephrine levels.

It's funny how scary the word addicting is. Addiction is commonly related to things that are bad for you (i.e drugs, alcohol, etc.) but in this case it is associated with something that causes no harm to you what so ever. So what if you're addicted to vanilla, it tastes good and has no longterm effects. I wonder if chocolate has any effects like this??

While I found this article to be quite intriguing, I'm not sure that it's legitimate. It seems questionable for a flavor alone to be addicting. If that were the case wouldn't we have individuals hooked on strawberry and orange instead of caffeine or tobacco? I did find
an interesting study though describing how tobacco companies began purposefully creating sweeter and fruitier flavored tobacco products. They did this mainly to attract a younger even teen demographic so that they would become hooked, lifetime customers..tricky right!

When I was little I never liked vanilla, I was just a big chocolate fan. But now that I have grown up and my taste buds have changed I love vanilla! Sometimes I even pick it over chocolate but usually since I am an extremely indecisive person I go for the chocolate/vanilla twist. This is crazy how vanilla can be addicting. That would maybe explain why people love treats so much because vanilla extract is usually incorporated into the mix.

This website lists a bunch of different vanilla extract brands of which I had no idea existed. (My mom always buys the store brand for when I use it to bake.) It also explains the difference between the different brands.